The opportunity to test a virtual workplace outside your traditional portfolio will be a highlight of the 2013 CoreNet Global Summit in Las Vegas on October 21-23, 2013 at the Social Networking Point on the summit floor. All attendees are invited to experience JLL’s new Space Exchange service in a state-of-the-art meeting space brought to you by Jones Lang LaSalle, LiquidSpace and Steelcase.

Space Exchange reservations are available NOW on a first-come, first-serve basis to book private meeting rooms for one to 12 people in 15-minute increments on the show floor in the Social Networking Point. There is no charge for Summit attendees to reserve meeting space.

The nature of work today is changing, and companies around the world are struggling to define the right mix of workspaces for an increasingly mobile and connected workforce. Match that conundrum with the startling reality that most office space that corporations own or lease is underutilized for a striking 60 percent of a typical workday, and there is clearly a need to balance supply and demand in corporate real estate.

As we prepare for the CoreNet Global Summit in Las Vegas October 21-24, Jones Lang LaSalle is polling corporate real estate executives and their service providers to see how this dynamic is playing out in YOUR worlds.

We will report on the results of our survey at the Summit. Join us in making the world of proworking come alive by taking the survey now.

While U.S. banks fought to survive, Canadian-owned BMO Harris executed two transformational acquisitions and a rebrand, with CRE influencing, shaping and supporting the strategy. Deposits grew 80% faster than expected, costs were reduced in half the expected time and facilities operations transitioned smoothly. In the most recent edition of CoreNet Global’s THE LEADER, BMO’s Vice President of Real Estate Dan Cooke, and JLL Account Director, Mark Melas co-authored Multi-tasking Large-Scale Initiatives: BMO Harris Navigates Two Acquisitions and a Rebrand. Read the full article here.

We’re proud to share that Doug Sharp, president of JLL Corporate Solutions, was elected to the CoreNet Global Board of Directors at the recent CoreNet Global Asia Summit in Shanghai. He will join a distinguished group of commercial real estate professionals as a Board member for a three-year term.

Learn more about Doug Sharp and his background by watching this video.

Sponsored by Jones Lang LaSalle last year, CoreNet Global’s CRE 2020 project revived the notion of collaboration between CRE, HR, IT and finance. Moving irreversibly over the next decade toward the formation of a super-nucleus, it appears that merged corporate functions would serve corporations’ new operational requirements in a seamless way. The report stated that “a new storm will blow through the CRE world, bringing an entirely new operational setting for the function”.

While the storm might not have materialized, a strong wind of change has definitively blown and begun to transform cross-functional collaboration from ad hoc intersections to permanent associations. This happened out of necessity. In many cases, the trigger has been productivity-driven workplace change projects, which requires operational enablement and synchronization to support the shift from premises to employees, from input to outcomes.

Tight collaboration takes many shapes, from standard shared-services structures to new organizational models such as hubs. In organizations where this has not taken place yet, a cultural shift is needed to move teams away from narrow transactional roles. In most cases, CRE’s existing track record of ad hoc teamwork will help reposition CRE teams as collaborative change agents across the entire business.

Using the workplace as the commonality for continuing collaboration with other functions offers a rare leadership opportunity. If not seized, it also represents a risk for the CRE function to lose its influence and standing.